Every hardworking professional can suffer from stress in the workplace, which can take its toll on their mental and emotional wellbeing.
As your business can cause different types of stress, it is the responsibility of both the owner and their managers to create a relaxed, calming environment for their employees.
To provide your team with a supportive workplace, read the below advice on how you can minimise stress as an employer.
Work Without Worry
If your company provides various clients with professional services, there is always a danger that your work could be challenged in the future. As a result, both a business owner and their employees might experience much stress and pressure when working on an important project. To ensure they can work without fear of legal repercussions, you should consult Hiscox to learn more about professional indemnity insurance, which could financially protect your business from a negligence claim.
Set Clear Goals and Tasks
Prevent stress and frustration for both you and your employees by setting clear goals and tasks for your team. By doing so, they will know what they need to do and how they can do it, which can prevent them from going down the wrong path and can boost productivity.
Provide Flexible Working Hours
A poor work-life balance can cause high-stress levels and low morale, which could lead to mental health issues, absences, and a high employee turnover. To retain your top talent and ensure they can enjoy a greater quality of life, you should consider providing your employees with flexible working hours. As a result, they will have time to take their children to school each morning or leave work early to catch up with friends, so they won’t feel as if their job dominates their life.
Encourage Physical Activity
Sitting behind a desk eight hours per day can affect your employees’ mental and physical health. It could lead to irritability, stress, and restlessness, which can damage their mood and impact their quality of work.
Various research studies have, however, found that exercise can be an effective way to counteract stress. It can also improve your employees’ energy levels, alertness, and concentration.
There are several ways you can encourage physical activity. For example, you could:
- Provide your staff with a free or discounted gym membership
- Encourage your team to go for a walk on their lunch break
- Request they take a break every two hours to stretch their legs
- Recommend a walking meeting
Create an Uplifting Workplace
A dull, drab environment can lead to an increase in stress. Transform your employees’ mood each working day by aiming to create a more uplifting workplace. For example, you should decorate an office in an upbeat colour scheme, provide your staff with cool and comfortable office furniture, hang bold artwork, and incorporate various indoor plants across the office.
You also should provide them with a space to blow off some steam; for instance, you could create a break room filled with comfortable sofas, a ping-pong table, board games, or table football.